The Poetry Society’s new board of trustees has issued a statement about the withholding of its Arts Council grant, a “situation of immense concern to the board”.

The grant was withheld during the summer turmoil at the Poetry Society, which resulted in a 5,000-signature petition, an extraordinary general meeting, and the replacement of the existing board of trustees by an entirely fresh board at the September agm.  In its statement the new board said:  ”On Wednesday 21 September the board of trustees had its first meeting. It was the first time many of us had ever met, and it is very encouraging that we have already been able to discuss, debate and agree a way forward through the immediate challenges. 

“As you may be aware, the society's funding from Arts Council England has been withheld until we can show that the society is once again a stable, viable, well-governed organisation. We are required to demonstrate this over a period of time. Clearly this situation is of immense concern to the board, and we consider that our most urgent challenge is to secure the release of our funding. We are addressing all of ACE's concerns, and are taking the utmost care to maintain the principles of good governance in everything we say and do. Members will appreciate, given recent events, that there are constraints on what we can disclose, but we are working to resolve matters as soon as possible. The membership, rightly, has high expectations of us all."

Shanta Acharya, Martin Alexander, Polly Clark, Robert Hutchison (deputy chair), Sir Stephen Irwin (chair), Edward Mackay, Kona Macphee, Heather Neill, Paul Ranford, Michael Schmidt, Laurie Smith, Dr Stephen Wilson.